The Dark is Descending by Chloe C. Penaranda

Here is a summary with spoilers for The Dark is Descending by Chloe C. Penaranda

In a past memory, Astraea is fighting the vampires, but still hiding that she is with Nyte. Later that night, after the battle is done, he comes for her, and they have a chat about how they want to be together.

It has been two weeks since Astraea lost Nyte, and she is a little dead inside. She will do anything to bring back Nyte; his lifeless body is staying hidden, and Astraea goes to check in on it every once in a while. Though one thing does make her happy, Zath, her friend, is finally healed and back to normal. But one other relationship is still struggling: Drystan. He is angry with her, and she does not want to trust him, but the two do not have any other choices. They both want King Auster gone and Nyte back, so they need to work together.

Astraea and Drystan decide to go back into her city, where King Auster is ruling. They are both wanted, so they go in disguise. Upon arrival, they hear Auster addressing his city. He tells them that Astraea has betrayed them, and that since the two are soul bonded, it will be his job to find her and kill her. Astraea is the distraction while Drystan goes to the prison, and Astraea reveals herself to the city and to Auster. A fight breaks out between the two, and Astraea publicly announces that if she loses, she will stay with Auster and marry him. During the fight, she ends up passing out thanks to a well planned hit by Auster.

Astraea goes into a dream, where she meets Nightsdeath, a version of Nyte, but the tortured, much meaner version of him. He wants to know where Nyte’s body is so he can fully control Nyte. Astraea refuses to tell him, and thus begins her torture of being killed over and over again by the man she loves. After days of this, she finally wakes up and is in the hands of Auster. She is now a prisoner and is told that their wedding will take place in just a couple of days. Auster takes her out in public that day to prove to the people that she has been tamed, but in the middle of his speech, Star Maiden flags go up, Astraea’s flag, and she realizes that not everyone believes she betrayed them. Auster rushes her back into the castle and locks her up. To make sure she cannot do anything before the wedding, he drugs her, and Astraea goes back to her days when she relied on that drug.

As the wedding gets closer, Auster has to take her out of the castle to show his bride off to the city. While out, rebels start a fight and want to get Astraea out from the hands of Auster. The fight turns bloody fast, and still under the effects of the drugs, Astraea cannot help her people. Nightsdeath arrives and offers help, but wants Astraea’s help in return. She says yes, and Nightsdeath starts his rampage.

In a past memory, Astraea goes to her first meeting with Nyte and his vampires. That night, there is an attack, and Nightsdeath makes an appearance, overtaking Nyte. Astraea refuses to leave, wanting to know more about the man she loves. She says she will never leave because war is coming, and that both Nyte and Nightsdeath are going to be needed.

Nightsdeath knows he will not be able to find Nyte’s body, but would rather spend time with Astraea and wants to know more about her mortal life. On top of it, he plans on finding the keys, which Astraea is also trying to find. He is also trying his hardest to get Astraea to release her Lightsdeath, knowing that he will be able to communicate better with her. Astraea decides that there is only one thing that can be done: she needs to kill Nightsdeath, and she finds her moment to do so, hoping that it will not kill Nyte.

Meanwhile, Drystan has taken the body of Nyte and is flying him out of the realm when all of a sudden he wakes up. They turn back to find Astraea, because he can feel her and knows something is wrong. Astraea, thanks to her decision to kill Nightsdeath, is now fighting for her life against her best friend Auster, and in order to save herself, she has to kill King Auster. She is devastated that she killed one of her best friends, but Nyte arrives and tells her it was for the best. But Auster got a stab in before he died, and it was a blade with Nightsdeath’s blood on it. It is now slowly poisoning Astraea. When Nyte gets her to a healer, they tell them she has weeks left to live and as far as they know, there is no cure.

Nyte and Astraea briefly reunite that night, but he wants her to rest. Once asleep, Nyte and Drystan decide to fly to their father’s kingdom to have a word with him. They know he has one of the keys, but he refuses to give it to them, then forces them out of his kingdom.

With King Auster dead, the group has to start planning. They know Auster also found some keys and has spread them out around the kingdom. They decide to go first for a trident, but while in that kingdom, they cannot find it and are forced out. They have to run to Zephyr’s kingdom for refuge. While with Zephyr, they find out that he has a secret family, two kids that he has kept hidden for years to protect them. He did so because his wife was killed by the goddess Dawn, and Dawn now uses her body to run around the mortal world. Zephyr hates the goddess for it.

While hiding and planning, Nyte and Drystan’s father comes to them with an army and a fight breaks loose, and Astraea is taken. Nyte comes after her and promises to tear the realm apart if anything happens to her. Nyte calls on the dragons, which he has been gaining control of more and more as the days go on. Nyte finds his opportunity to go for his father and kill him, ending the battle. Though the win is short lived, because Astraea is still dying, and Dawn and Dusk are still coming for them.

One day Dawn comes for Astraea, but Astraea was waiting for it and planned a trap for the goddess. While the plan was for Astraea to go and kill the goddess, Zephyr wants his vengeance for his wife and goes for the killing blow. While he does succeed, Dawn also stabs him. Zephyr asks Astraea to take care of his children. With Zephyr dead, his kingdom starts to crumble. Nyte grabs Astraea and the kids and starts running out of the kingdom, transferring as much of the army as well.

The fight follows them, with Dusk close behind and ready for revenge for Dawn. He sends a volley of arrows right at Nyte, and they all hit him. Seeing Nyte bleeding out brings out the Lightsdeath in Astraea, and she goes for Dusk, killing him.

Astraea returns to a dying Nyte, and he tells her that now that the two gods are dead, he has a plan: that he and Astraea should take their places as the new god and goddess of Dusk and Dawn. He gives her a drink, and the two pass out and see different visions, but when they wake, they are gods. The two are coronated. Their kingdom and realm are thriving. They are happy to see the good changes in their kingdom, but they are also happy to find moments where they can step away from it all and just be together.